diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bison/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bison/package.py
index 2615266c8ad..e87c7da7ce3 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bison/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bison/package.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class Bison(AutotoolsPackage):
 
     version('3.0.4', 'a586e11cd4aff49c3ff6d3b6a4c9ccf8')
 
-    depends_on('m4', type='build')
+    depends_on('m4', type=('build', 'run'))
 
     patch('pgi.patch', when='@3.0.4')